The present invention relates to an improved board for rolling dough and preparing food.
In the course of food preparation, it is often desirable to roll dough evenly and to a specific thickness. However, the use of a rolling pin and a flat surface often results in rolled dough with undesirable holes, thick spots, or stretched regions.
Conventional kitchen cutting boards to not have features that help a user roll dough evenly every time. Nor do they have mechanisms that allow a user to accurately control the thickness or diameter of the rolled dough, or confidently pre-select the end thickness of the rolled dough before beginning to roll it.
The present invention allows a user to evenly roll dough to a predetermined thickness. It also allows a user to control the diameter of the rolled dough. The invention comprises a generally flat rectangular board, preferably wood, with an elevated rail system on the surface of at least one side of the board that consists of a raised lip around the perimeter. The invention can be used with a rolling pin that is long enough to straddle parallel sides of the elevated railing. When the user rolls the rolling pin across the elevated railing, the rolling pin flattens the dough to a thickness corresponding to the height of the railing measured relative to the surface of the board.
One preferred embodiment of the invention has fixed railings on each side of the board so that each side is capable of producing rolled dough with a different thickness. Another preferred embodiment has a railing that the user can adjust to heights of 0.0 inch, 0.125 inch, 0.25 inch or 0.5 inch relative to the surface of the board. This enables the user to pre-select how thick the rolled dough will be. The preferred embodiments also have concentric circular grooves or markings in or on the surface of the boards which enable the user to roll the dough to specific diameters. The invention can also be used as a cutting board, preferably on the reverse side.